World famous artist, 70, accused of being a paedophile tells court there is ‘no shame’ in nude child portraits

I have sometimes pondered why paintings of nude children – of which there seem to be a lot by great artists – don’t seem to attract the same reactions as photographs do. Maybe now they are.

A couple of my favourite films from my childhood (Fatty Finn and Disney’s Pollyanna) and at least one of my favourite children’s TV shows from then as well (Saturdee) contain nude scenes involving children as well – seems to have been fine then, and both films still have ‘G-ratings’ even today… obviously the sexual exploitation of children is wrong, but where is the actual line where something is sexual exploitation? That’s where I’m wondering what standards are being applied.

Are Bert Newton and Noni Hazlehurst going to be accused of involvement with child pornography (both costarred in Fatty Finn) or Walt Disney for Pollyanna? Are they going to reassess all of the great Masters who painted cherubs?